Instant messaging is a type of online chat in which a user can exchange an instant message (which may include text, voice, and multimedia data such as pictures and/or videos) in real-time through an exchange server connected over the Internet to an instant messaging application. Typically, the user will have an account with the exchange service and will have installed the instant messaging application on one or more of his or her devices (e.g., a smart phone, tablet, personal computer or laptop, etc.). After installing the instant messaging application on a computer or a smart mobile terminal, the user will log-on to his or her account and exchange an instant message (IM) with one or more other users through an instant messaging account.
In some circumstances, a user will request that the exchange server perform a particular operation, such as: requesting that a message be sent, updating a user status (e.g., “available,” “away,” “busy,” etc.), updating account preferences and the like. In conventional methods and devices, a problem arises when the user has made such a request after logging into the instant messaging service through multiple terminals (e.g., multiple devices) simultaneously. Typically, the server will perform the operation on the originating terminal, and does not synchronize the operation to other terminals. Such conventional methods require the user to repeatedly execute the same operations on each terminal where the user desires the operation to take effect, and is thus inconvenient and burdensome to the user.